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| 2010 World Cup Qualifying | |
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| Tweet Topic Started: Sep 9 2008, 05:12 AM (3,180 Views) | |
| Merengue | Oct 9 2008, 12:09 PM Post #16 |
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Interesting that Holland would return to an internationally retired player like van der Sar with the first and second choice keepers unavailable rather than giving a chance to the third string goalie. Not much of a vote of confidence for Michel Vorm. What if this situation occurs again in the future? Will van Maarwijk call upon van der sar again or will he have to rely on one of the backups? I'd try and give the reserves an opportunity, how else are they going to get the experience needed when they might have to play in an emergency? Talking of goalie problems, Germany's new number 1 Robert Enke will miss the Russia game, surely the match of the day this weekend in Europe. He's expected to be replaced in the lineup by either Rene Adler or Tim Weise, the backup goalies. You don't see Joachim Low looking to call up the retired Jens Lehmann as Holland are doing with van der Sar. |
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| Simon | Oct 10 2008, 01:44 PM Post #17 |
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FIFA World Cup European Qualifying Belgium v Armenia, Gp 5, 19:45 Bulgaria v Italy, Gp 8, 19:15 Denmark v Malta, Gp 1, 19:00 England v Kazakhstan, Gp 6, 17:15 Estonia v Spain, Gp 5, 19:45 Faroe Islands v Austria, Gp 7, 16:00 Finland v Azerbaijan, Gp 4, 15:00 Georgia v Cyprus, Gp 8, 17:30 Germany v Russia, Gp 4, 19:45 Greece v Moldova, Gp 2, 19:30 Holland v Iceland, Gp 9, 19:45 Hungary v Albania, Gp 1, 18:45 Luxembourg v Israel, Gp 2, 19:15 Poland v Czech Republic, Gp 3, 19:30 Romania v France, Gp 7, 19:40 San Marino v Slovakia, Gp 3, 19:30 Scotland v Norway, Gp 9, 15:00 Serbia v Lithuania, Gp 7, 19:15 Slovenia v Northern Ireland, Gp 3, 19:45 Sweden v Portugal, Gp 1, 19:00 Switzerland v Latvia, Gp 2, 16:45 Turkey v Bosnia-Herzegovina, Gp 5, 19:00 Ukraine v Croatia, Gp 6, 18:00 Wales v Liechtenstein, Gp 4, 17:30 This is the full list of tomorrow's European fixtures, there's not a great deal that really leap off the page this time round is there? England, Italy, Greece, Spain, Ukraine and Lithuania are all hoping to extend their 100% records to 3 games and give themselves the ideal start. I go along with Merengue in being interested by Germany-Russia, I would expect Germany to win as Russia are especially erratic on the road, but it could be a good game. Sweden v Portugal is an enticing clash of styles and it's a big game since both nations have made slightly unsure starts, particularly Portugal who lost at home to Denmark in extraordinary circumstances last time out. Italy (v Bulgaria), France (v Romania) and Croatia (v Ukraine) all have pretty testing away matches to play and it's difficult to predict the outcome of Poland v Cxech Republic. I also notice that Faroe Islands are hosting Austria, which recalls the famous occasion in 1990 when the Faroes played Austria in what was their first ever match, they won 1-0 and thus boasted a 100% win record in international football! The goal, a pretty decent one too, is scored one minute into this video. I just love how excited the commentator gets! http://uk.youtube.com/watch?v=LFbxsLiq2Ro&NR=1 |
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| historyman | Oct 10 2008, 10:06 PM Post #18 |
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Yes, it will be interesting to keep an eye on that fixture. Torsvahn is never an easy place to visit and it’s possible that the Faroes could nick a draw out of this one. Thanks for posting that link, Simon. I recall that 1990 match very well, as Northern Ireland were drawn in the same qualifying group for Euro’92. After that shock result we were very apprehensive, and sure enough the Faroes held NI to a 1-1 draw in Belfast. I was at that match, standing on the terracing behind one of the goals, where I was able to get a close up view of the most famous player in Faroese history - Jens Martin Knudsen - better known as ‘the keeper with the bobble hat’! Needless to say, he received a healthy amount of stick from the crowd over his headgear! ![]() Jens Martin Knudsen |
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| Yogi | Oct 10 2008, 10:48 PM Post #19 |
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Knudsen looks like one of the Mr. Gumby characters from the old Monty Python skits! Germany-Russia is the big game this weekend, a finalist against a semifinalist from this summer's Euro 2008. Due to the injury to Robert Enke mentioned earlier here, Rene Adler will start his first game for Germany. That's a lot of pressure on a young goalie in a game of this nature. France won't have an easy trip to play at Romania and you wonder about Domenech's job safety if France loses that one. But then again with France's federation they'd probably give him a raise! Italy's visit to Sofia won't be easy and as libero writes in the Italy forum, it looks like Lippi will make some changes to the lineup, Gilardino coming in for Toni and newcomer Simone Pepe starting at right wing. |
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| Yogi | Oct 11 2008, 08:18 PM Post #20 |
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Adler did pretty well in his debut as Russia tested him but Germany's two early goals from Ballack and Podolski were enough to hold on and outweigh Arshavin's goal for Russia, 2-1 home win for Germany in a game which lived up to it's hype. France came from 2-0 down to draw 2-2 at Romania, Yoann Gourcuff with a long range shot to tie it but France still are looking shaky. England started off poorly against Kazakhstan and it was 0-0 at the half but in the 2nd half England woke up and won 5-1. Two goals for Rooney. Holland beat Iceland 2-0, Spain easily won 3-0 at Estonia and Bulgaria and Italy played a 0-0 game in Sofia. |
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| Simon | Oct 12 2008, 05:54 AM Post #21 |
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The full set of results: Belgium 2-0 Armenia Bulgaria 0-0 Italy Denmark 3-0 Malta England 5-1 Kazakhstan Estonia 0-3 Spain Faroe Islands 1-1 Austria Finland 1-0 Azerbaijan Georgia 1-1 Cyprus Germany 2-1 Russia Greece 3-0 Moldova Netherlands 2-0 Iceland Hungary 2-0 Albania Luxembourg 1-3 Israel Poland 2-1 Czech Republic Romania 2-2 France San Marino 1-3 Slovakia Scotland 0-0 Norway Serbia 3-0 Lithuania Slovenia 2-0 Northern Ireland Sweden 0-0 Portugal Switzerland 2-1 Latvia Turkey 2-1 Bosnia-Hercegovina Ukraine 0-0 Croatia Wales 2-0 Liechtenstein The England game was the only one I saw, Yogi's summed it up. England were fairly flat in the first half against a Kazakhstan side who worked extremely hard for each other. The goals did come eventually though and Rooney was England's man of the match again, continuing his excellent form for club and country. We did concede a bizarre goal though, when Ashley Cole who was under very little pressure, clipped the ball straight into the area to a Kazakh striker who gratefully knocked it past James. I've got no time at all for Cole as a bloke but equally it was a sour note when a minority of muppets in the crowd started to boo his every touch, I mean what's the point of that? Still, 3 wins out of 3 and a healthy goal difference, with the extra bonus of Ukraine and Croatia drawing with each other. |
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| Don Balon | Oct 12 2008, 06:59 AM Post #22 |
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No real surprises yesterday, I don't consider France drawing away to Romania or Italy doing the same in Bulgaria a surprise. Gourcuff's goal for France was a beautiful one. Maybe France are finding a young midfielder to pair with Ribery? Kevin Kuranyi apparently threw a fit when he didn't play against Russia and Low has now banned him from the team. Sounds as if that was a good game between two fine teams. Should be a good return match in Moscow but by then both may well be on their way to qualifying. I suppose a minor surprise yesterday was Czech Republic losing to Poland. But the Czechs are not the same team they were at Euro 2004 and should no longer be expected to win a game like that away from home. I was satisified with Spain's 3-0 win in Estonia. Now comes a tougher trip to Belgium which will test Spain's long unbeaten run. |
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| raconteur | Oct 12 2008, 12:13 PM Post #23 |
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I was disappointed with Italy's draw away to Bulgaria. Sure an away draw isn't a bad result but it was Italy's style of play which I didn't care for. Lippi had been getting Italy to shed it's ultra conservative ways but not in this game. Hopefully they'll play more offensively on Wednesday. Meanwhile Luca Toni who came in as a sub continues to struggle, smething he is doing for both club and country. Kazakhstan did work hard but boy when they hit the wall, they really hit the wall, I haven't seen a team not playing in high altitude just run out of gas as much as Kazakhstan did yesterday at Wembley. Rooney did play well for England and Rio Ferdinand is just a solid player on both ends of the field. Simon, I too was wondering about the jeering of Cole too. Sure he made a bad mistake but there was a lot of anger in that contineud jeering of him. Must have been a lot of Arsenal and Tottenham supporters in the crowd! Adler looked good for Germany and they needed that as Russia put him under a lot of pressure. Germany still looks like a team who struggle when forced to defend. Offensively they are good but at the back they are questionable when playing good teams such as Russia. |
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| Nkono | Oct 13 2008, 08:07 AM Post #24 |
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France were in deep trouble until Ribery and Gourcuff decided to hell with this and took the game over themselves. Between those two, Benzema and Nasri there is a great attacking future for France. But the defense is still woeful and I don't understand how Boumsong, who sits on the bench for his club Lyon starts national team games! |
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| Winslow | Oct 13 2008, 08:10 AM Post #25 |
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Maybe he hasn't been in good Vorm lately. (This is only funny in a country like Holland where V is pronounced like F.) Speaking of replacement keepers, Adler is a real comer, but I don't see how Timo Hildebrand has fallen off the German radar. There were two surprises for me in the Romania-France game: Romania went up by two goals early, and France clawed its way back. Wales is now second in its group--let's see how long that lasts. Scotland could've used a home win and didn't get one, while Northern Ireland doesn't look likely to pull any surprises in this qualifying stretch, unlike Euro 2008. |
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| Simon | Oct 13 2008, 09:29 AM Post #26 |
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Scotland certainly could have used a home win, and would have got one but for this incredible miss by a Wolves striker named Chris Iwelumo who I confess I'd never heard of before Saturday. I hope the poor sod scores on Wednesday because this is the type of thing that can shatter a lesser-known player's confidence even though we've all seen more famous players miss some bad ones. |
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| Merengue | Oct 13 2008, 10:46 PM Post #27 |
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Iwelumo would make a good defender because that was one hell of a great clearance! Marca the Spanish sports daily in honour of this miss reproduced some other famous misses, most heart breakingly for me Julio Cardenosa's miss in the 1978 World Cup against Brasil. Note they also include Pele's dummy and miss against Ladislao Mazurkiewicz of Uruguay in the 1970 World Cup followed by a VW ad where it has been computer enhanced to show he scored! http://www.marca.com/edicion/marca/futbol/...lo/1174885.html Adler did do quite well for Germany, he and Manuel Neuer of Schalke are the future for Germany in goal. Enke is adequate enough until they are ready and maybe after this game Adler is showing he is capable of taking over now? Winslow, Hildebrand has lost his job at Valencia to Brasil's Renan, that is why he hasn't been selected lately by Low. |
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| Simon | Oct 14 2008, 03:30 AM Post #28 |
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Good link, Merengue! This is a pretty good compilation, some real eye-watering ones here! http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GjtY2HhAe2s&feature=related Ah, poor Diego Forlan. As we'd say in England, he 'couldn't hit a cow's arse with a banjo' during his time at United. Funnily enough on those rare occasions that he did score they were vital goals and were often pretty spectacular as well. In terms of points that his goals secured for us, we wouldn't actually have won the league in 2003 without him. And he'll always have Anfield, where his two goals beat Liverpool, making him a kind of ironic cult hero at Old Trafford imortalised to the tune of Volare: "Diego whoa-oh, Diego whoa-oh, He came from Uruguay, He made the scousers cry!" I'm pleased at the extent of his rehabilitation since then, because he's a genuinely nice bloke. I'd dearly love to see him repeat the trick against Liverpool in the CL this month, wherever those matches will be played! Back to international football, here are the standings: http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport1/hi/football/5179512.stm And tomorrow's matches: Group 1: Malta v Hungary, Gp 1, 18:30 Portugal v Albania, Gp 1, 20:45 Disappointing start for Portugal who could easily have lost to Sweden if Elmander had his shooting boots on. They're 4th in the group and even though they should surely beat Albania at home they may still be behind Hungary if the Hungarians can win in Malta. Denmark and Sweden currently lead the way but take a breather this week. Group 2: Greece v Switzerland, Gp 2, 19:30 Latvia v Israel, Gp 2, 17:00 Luxembourg v Moldova, Gp 2, 19:15 Greece are one of three nations still with a 100% record, but that may be challenged by the Swiss who are usually solid opponents, when they're not losing to Luxembourg that is! It's actually Moldova who are the whipping boys so far and Luxembourg have a rare chance to record a second win. If 2nd-placed Israel can win in Latvia while Greece win, their prospects will be looking pretty good. Group 3: Czech Republic v Slovenia, Gp 3, 16:30 Northern Ireland v San Marino, Gp 3, 19:45 Slovakia v Poland, Gp 3, 19:30 Poland and Slovenia are the early front-runners but both have tricky away matches. The Czechs still await their first win and anything other than victory tomorrow would leave them with plenty to do. Northern Ireland should get their first win on the board when they play San Marino in Belfast. Group 4: Germany v Wales, Gp 4, 19:45 Russia v Finland, Gp 4, 16:00 The Welsh are actually second, just behind Germany, but you can still expect Germany to be top of the group after this game. Finland are ahead of Russia but it would be a bit of a surprise if they still are after their trip to play their eastern neighbour. Group 5: Belgium v Spain, Gp 5, 19:45 Bosnia-Herzegovina v Armenia, Gp 5, 19:15 Estonia v Turkey, Gp 5, 19:30 Belgium and Turkey have both made sound starts in what still for now looks like a chase for runners-up spot behind Spain. Even though they're at home I suspect that if you offered Belgium a draw this week they'd probably take it. Turkey should be able to build some momentum by beating Estonia. Group 6: Belarus v England, Gp 6, 19:30 Croatia v Andorra, Gp 6, 19:15 Croatia are sure to beat Andorra, while England have a tough test in Minsk. The Belorussians are fit and organised, England should win but they'll have to earn it and I don't think it'll be easy. Group 7: Austria v Serbia, Gp 7, 19:30 Lithuania v Faroe Islands, Gp 7, 17:00 This group looked made for France and Romania but both have made faltering starts. Neither is involved tonight and if any of the other teams is going to push France or Romania into a play-off you'd think it would be Serbia who recently pulled the same trick on Spain. If they can win in Austria they'll have some steady momentum. Group 8: Georgia v Bulgaria, Gp 8, 17:30 Italy v Montenegro, Gp 8, 19:50 Rep of Ireland v Cyprus, Gp 8, 19:45 Italy should beat Montenegro and I'm sure they'll reflect that 4 points out of this week is a pretty good return. If there are also wins for Bulgaria and Ireland this will already look like a three-horse race. Group 9: Iceland v FYR Macedonia, Gp 9, 19:00 Norway v Holland, Gp 9, 18:00 Two wins out of two for the Dutch and if they can beat Norway then 2nd-placed Scotland's play-off chances will still look okay despite the points they've already dropped. Macedonia could potentially go top of the group if they win away, but after the economic woes suffered by Iceland this week it would be nice if events on the football pitch could at least give them something to smile about! |
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| Yogi | Oct 14 2008, 08:21 AM Post #29 |
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I love the video compilations guys, many thanks! Plus it is nice to know the professionals can miss certain goals just like we Sunday leaguers do! I know historyman will have his eyes out on those Group 3 games especially the one involving Northern Ireland but that is shaping up to be a very competitive group. Czech Republic's slow start may be contributing to that but Slovenia and Slovakia are those type of teams which every so often seem to put it all togetehr and become pretty competitive. They might be on the verge of doing that now. Slovakia hasn't yet made it on to the stage of a major tournament but I recall Slovenia doing all right in making Euro 2000 and World Cup 2002. The same competitiveness is also taking place in Group 7 with Serbia and Austria off to good starts and Romania and France slumping. Austria home to Serbia might then be one of tomorrow's top games. I never know what to think of Serbia, they always produce talented players but they seem more a conglomeration of individuals than a team. If a coach could ever get them playing together they could be a pretty good team. |
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| Merengue | Oct 14 2008, 11:44 PM Post #30 |
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I'm beginning to think Carlos Queiroz makes a good side kick but not a good head coach. I know from his days at Real Madrid he took a European Champions League winning team and made them worse, now it looks like he's doing the same by running Portugal into the ground too! Queiroz is the Sancho Panza, Robin or Dr. Watson of coaching! |
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